>> seven gas stations, right within 20 cars. not looking good for gas today. >> in new york city, marathon backlash, outrage grows as the city pushing ahead to run the race before power is restored. four days to go, both candidates spinning the last preelection jobs report. >> this morning we learned that companies hired more workers in october than any time in the last eight months. >> today we learned it's actually 7.9%, 9 million jobs short of what he promised. unemployment is higher today than when barack obama took office. think of that. unemployment today is higher on -- than on the day barack obama took office. >> now it's all about turnout. and enthusiasm. >> let me tell you something, i might be the only person in america, but i am far more

enthusiastic about president obama this time than i was four years ago. >> speaking about getting that vote out. >> not exercising your right to vote is milalarkeymalarkey. >> early voters will receive a $5 million donation from donald trump. >> couldn't you want this e -- don't you want this election over with already? >> the homeland security department is responding to a growing crisis in new york and new jersey. massive shortages of fuel hampering recovery efforts and leaving millions of motorists with empty tanks. tom costello is in richfield, new jersey, with details on that temporary fix. >> hi, andrea. we've got a lot going on here. let me just set the stage for you. we're on the jersey turnpike and a lot of cars moving through here at the vince lombardi station, very quickly, because they seem to be keeping things moving. let me first show you an area of the port of new york, we have tankers moving through.

the coast guard has been have power.

power is restored to the terminals to get the fuel, of course, on to the trucks. that's a priority. now, there are trucks moving and there is gas here. the issue are those other two issues really kind of slowing things down and then by the way, we still have some of these huge massive refineries taken off-line trying to get them up and running but that could be a while as well. this part of the country consumes more oil, more gas, than any ear part of the country on a daily basis. it drinks it. they have goat this stuff moving not only to power cars but generators because of people, people don't have any electricity. they need generators to stay warm. let me tell you, andrea, it is cold. it was about 38 this morning at the moment we're about 49 or 50 degrees right now, but it's a chilly day with, you know, the wind blowing and if you don't have electricity and you're miserable and you're standing in water, it's just mo fun at all. you can see why all of this is a

great importance. back to you. >> and the possibility of another storm we don't know the track yet, but another storm coming next week to the same area. tom, help me here because i think i know the answer from something that i saw stephanie abrams of the weather channel saying this morning, how did you get to your live shot this morning? because there was a long line there and i know you couldn't jump the line and you couldn't drive, so just how did you get to your "today" show assignment or "morning joe" assignment? >> i'm going to show you. take a look. here is the real line and here are the police. the reason the police are here is because this line extends all the way around the entire service center here on the off ramp and up on to the garden state parkway or the new jersey turnpike. my -- the guy driving me in arrived at about 5:45 in the morning for a 7:00 live shot for the "today" and then he was

stuck. i had to walk down the highway about a mile and a half to make it in time for the "today" show, stephanie abrams did the same thing for the weather channel. i was lucky. i only had a mile and a half. >> only a mile and a half, predawn and must have been a lot colder and tom costello, our intrepid correspondent not nearly what all of those poor folks are dealing with. we have exit strategies and they don't. thank you so much. thanks for your reporting throughout. >> president obama is about to deliver his second speech of the day in ohio, in springfield and in the next hour, governor romney will be in aetna, ohio, an hour's drive away, 64 miles from the president. proof it is all about ohio with only days remaining on the campaign calendar. so joining me now for our daily fix, chris cizilla who hasn't had to walk or drive ney where today. msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com and charlie cook dean of all the analysts, msnbc political analysts, founder of the cook

report, our bible indeed. let me start with you, charlie, a couple days out where do you see the state of the race? >> well, i think that you've got about -- i don't buy the michigan nevada pennsylvania wisconsin are still in play. i don't think those outcomes are still in doubt. i think obama will win those four. we're really down to the last seven states and their 94 electoral votes and obama needs 17 out of 94 and romney needs 79 out of 94. when one candidate only needs 18% of the electoral votes in the toss up states and the other 84%, the odds are a lot better for the candidate that needs the 18% and that's president obama. so, i think the popular vote -- i think it's tied. i think we could easily see romney win the popular vote, but the electoral college i still think -- i would put a finger on the scale towards president obama. >> chris cizilla, if president

obama wins, how much of an impact do you think that the hurricane and his leadership role, being seen with chris christie, you know, showing up with fema, how much do you think that may have had an impact, because it stopped whatever momentum mitt romney may have been enjoying. >> i would say i think the race is kind of upset. mitt romney got a bump off the first debate. by october 15th, the race had settled to where it was up until hurricane sandy. i point to the "washington post"/abc news, doing tracking polls every day about a week and a half now, the last two rolling tracks we've asked about president obama's job performance on sandy, 78% two days ago said excellent or good, 79% said excellent or good. yesterday. when you're dealing with the margins here, it can't hurt. i think the fact that the president got to be the

president, kind of be bipartisan, to go up, look at things, that role, remember the people haven't decided yet, aren't partisans on either side. they tend to be independent on affiliated -- unaffiliated voters. who don't like that partisanship. for him to be with chris christie looking like they were working together for the good of the people in new jersey and new york, that accrues to his broad benefit. do i know how many people say i saw president obama during hurricane sandy and i'm voting for him, no, but i think this last week has helped him burnish that image of a guy who is presidential willing to work across the aisle. mitt romney can't do nothing about it. through no fault of mitt romney. barack obama is the president and there are advantages to incumbency. >> my friend and former colleague chris is absolutely right, the debate was, you know, a month -- a month ago tomorrow, and there's no question -- no question that governor romney got two, two and a half weeks of

very, very strong momentum coming out of that. pollsters i talk to on both sides say the momentum was spent in the race and stabilized a little over a week ago before sandy came along. so i -- to be honest i think sandy may affect the popular vote a little bit, but to be honest i don't think it's going to -- i think it's going to be a convenient excuse for some people but this momentum had already stopped and this race had stabilized before sandy came along. >> and let me just pause it here and see either of you disagree with me, today's jobs report offered talking points to both. we heard mitt romney say and we heard it earlier, that the fact that it inched up to 7.9%, even though there were 171,000 net new jobs, that permits mitt romney to say there are more people, higher rate of unemployment than when barack obama took office. so, the president can say we've got another month of new hiring

and net pluses, so it becomes a wash. anybody disagree with that? >> no. i think that's right. i would say look, the best -- we've known for months i think that the best case political scenario for barack obama when it comes to the economy is sort of a muddle. that the way he loses is if the unemployment rate remains high, jobs -- the jobs are not -- are 75,000, 80,000 jobs created no talking point where he can say it's not where we want it to be but i think it's getting better, so i think a muddle -- it's sort of the tie goes to the incumbent. in baseball, be it's muddled enough it winds up not helping mitt romney which means it helps barack obama a little bit. >> let me ask you, charlie, just switching gears for a second, unless you disagree with chris cizilla, i wanted to ask you about the house and the senate. because if president obama were to win then perhaps he could pull a couple of those close senate races in, the house we pretty much all agree is going

to stay republican, but one of the things we've been looking at more closely is that this is going to be a more partisan and less experienced house of representatives. >> exactly. our model this morning had democrats picking up three or four seats total and they need 25. you're absolutely right, that the people that are leaving congress, whether they are moderate conservative, democrat, some of the few remaining white southerners left, there are a lot more moderate than the democrats left behind. and the same thing with republicans. they're more john boehner types than tea party types leaving congress. i think you are going to find a much more ideologically split and the only offsetting factor i can think of is, i think the pressure after this election will be so great on dealing with fiscal cliff, dealing with the debt, the pressure from the business community will be

overwhelming you knuckle heads get your acts together that maybe that will offset an even more deeply divided house of representatives and senate for that matter. >> although, one could argue that, you know, there was that vote, that first t.a.r.p. vote against all of the conventional wisdom of the time about the importance of the t.a.r.p. vote, and if you have fewer people who are rooted in traditional politics or traditional economics, you may not have people joining this congress -- >> that's exactly right. >> willing to make deals. >> it could be -- it could require something in the markets like immediately after the t.a.r.p. vote and the 780 something point drop in the dow to focus minds and change behavior. it shouldn't -- we shouldn't need that, but my guess is, we could have a couple days in that general direction. >> we'll be joining you in new york charlie cook for our election coverage.

thanks so much. chris cizilla, thanks to you. we'll see you later. >> thank you. >> meanwhile in staten island desperation is mounting. people are struggling to contemplate the destruction of their homes and lives as ann curry discovered firsthand in her reporting for "rock center" last night. >> so many more [ inaudible ]. >> my mom az a simple lady. >> did you have many copies of this? >> no. >> this is the only photograph. >> only wedding photograph of my mom. >> finding all these photographs. >> they mean the world to me. my pictures mean the world to me. >> most of phyllis and her husband's world is gone. >> this is our whole life is here. how do we start over? took 30 years to get our home and now he retired and -- where do we go? how do we start to build a life over again? >> and, of course, she and so many other families on staten island come from the fire

fighting community and the police community, the death toll on staten island, 19. wnbc's mark san tia joins us from there. mark, you're in a home there on staten island. tell me what you're seeing on the ground and how people are coping and whether fema is finally arriving on the scene today. >> yeah. fema is here. fema is here, federal agents set up in a command center. this is ocean breeze, sort of a forgotten community in between. south beach and midland beach the waters receded, debris cleared. i want to give you a tour. this was a home of ten, eight children, mom and dad called this home. this was the living room. you can see the signs of family. a doll, winnie the pooh, walk you down the hall where this used to be a closet, there was a bathroom here. now covered in sea water and mud and muck and the stench here is incredible. jackie, want to talk to you real quick. your nieces and nephews, 9 through 21 live here. folks here need help. are you getting the help? >> nobody is here.

nobody. they just showed up after you showed up. that's it. it's terrible. look. nothing. >> this used to be the backyard. there used to be a patio there. now it's someone else's trampoline, construction equipment, tires, everything that washed up from the water here. several houses in ocean breeze have been condemned. others that i've walked through, the floor, is starting to give. everything soggy. i don't understand, we don't know how folks here can rebuild. a lot of people have said it's not about rebuilding the homes, it's about rebuilding lives. if this isn't something that just happy father's day daddy, this again was a house of ten, eight children called this home. now those eight children have to look for a new place to live with their mom and dad and regroup. jackie, if someone is watching, what is vital to ocean breeze? what do people need most? >> a place to live. there's no place to go. nobody's had helping us. no food, no place to live. they got to start school monday. how? they don't have clean clothes. nothing here to help us.

>> what we've heard, people here are -- they don't know if it's toxic, dealing with toxins. they're asking for gloves, so they can clean up their own homes. gloves to clean up. asking for some supplies, some cleaning supplies. get out of the way, folks coming in and out of here cleaning things. this is -- this is what it looks like. so many of us have seen pictures what the outside looks like. that's why i wanted to bring you inside to see what families here are dealing with. little girl's room just down the hall. i don't know if we have time to show you, but we would like to show you because this story is not unique. people up and down these blocks here, midland beach, south beach, over in new door beach. this was -- you see a bedroom over here. the water came in here, there is -- the water line is at the top of the ceiling. moved dressers, had heavy dressers around, where the little girls used to spend the nights. this is their bedroom. this drives home the devastation. balloons and posters. this is every little girl's

room. now destroyed by the water. and there are -- little tie dye kits and their lives disrupting, not just disrupted but devastated. they're reaching out for help, asking for help, we're live in ocean breeze, staten island, i'm mark, back to you. >> mark, thank you so much for your reporting. and we'll be right back. we put a week's worth of bad odors in a home. some aerosols may just mix with them. can febreze really remove them? we asked real people what they thought. take a deep breath for me. describe the smell. it's very pleasant. fresh. some kind of flower maybe? remove the blindfold... awww, oh yuck! i didn't smell any of that! febreze air effects doesn't mix, it actually removes odors. [ laughs ] wow, that's incredible. just another way febreze helps you breathe happy.

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more incredible pictures out of new york. residents facing long lines as they try to get to work and also face transit restrictions. and the new jobs report today gave both campaigns bragging rights, a chance to issue their talking points. the unemployment rate inched up to 7.9%, but 171,000 new jobs

were added and the august and september reports were revised upwards. in terms of new hiring, labor secretary hilda solis joins me now. madam secretary, you're smiling because you like this report. >> i think it's another indication of our steady growth and 171,000 jobs is a bit higher than what the projected numbers were. we saw this in professions like sector and business and tourism and leisure. >> everything but government. government was down by 13,000. >> yes. >> because of state and local government layoffs probably. >> absolutely. >> at the same token you want 250,000 or more new jobs to keep up with population growth to show the economy is expanding at any kind of vigorous pace. >> we do. i will remind people when the president took office, when he started we lost 4 million jobs, now we have added 5.4 million jobs, that's 1.2 million additional jobs that have come back. we are somewhat out of the ditch but we still need more help.

we need cooperation and that's why the president says we need to look at infrastructure development to put construction workers back, to get teachers back on the payroll by passing the american jobs act that has componentsents to allow fort increase in sgroets and hopefully extend the payroll tax we'll have a stimulus so people can spend more money. >> you've been to 13 states, is that correct? >> i've been out talking about manufacturing jobs and talking with community colleges, to see how we can get the mismatch focused in on making sure that people can hire up people that have the right skills. that's what i've been doing. it's resonating. i think the business community is starting to understand that this administration really does care about the future job growth and where those jobs are and bringing those jobs back here to our shore. >> now, speaking of that, one thing that is close to your heart and you also know very deeply as a former member of congress is the disproportionate impact of unemployment on minority groups. and right now hispanic

unemployment is still in this new report 10%. >> right. >> whereas the overall unemployment is 7.9%. now that can have an impact on the enthusiasm if the president is going to get re-elected it's going to depend on a big turnout of his base and that means a latino turnout. >> i'll tell you, though, i have seen a great deal of enthusiasm in the latino community. all the reports that i have seen indicate that support is well over 70%. more people are registering to vote, new voters, and a lot has to do with the policies the president laid out. more health care coverage through the affordable care act and making sure that we have more substantial work steady and financial aid, pell grants available for young people and job training. in addition, to cutting the taxes for small businesses. >> the only reason i would interrupt you is the boss is speaking, at least your boss, president obama. right now in ohio. and he is in springfield, ohio, i think. and as i say he's all of our

president, but he's your boss as a member of the cabinet. let's hear what he has to say. >> probable journey for more than two centuries and it's also guided us and carried us through the trials and tribulations of the last four years. in 2008 we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the great depression. today, our businesses have created 5.5 million new jobs and this morning we learned companies hired more workers in october than any time in the last eight months. the american auto industry is back on top. home values, housing starts are on the rise. we're less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last 20 years. because of the service and sacrifice of our brave men and

women in uniform the war in iraq is over, the war in afghanistan is ending, al qaeda has been decimated, osama bin laden is dead. [ applause ] >> we're on the move, ohio. we've made real progress these last four years. the reason all of you are here today, the reason i'm here today, we know we've got more work to do. as long as there's a single american who wants a job but can't find one, our work is not done. as long as there are families working harder but falling behind, as long as there's a child anywhere in this country who is languishing in poverty, barred from opportunity, our fight goes on. we are not finished yet. we've got more work to do. [ applause ]

we're here because we understand this nation cannot succeed without a groving, thriving middle -- growing, thriving middle class, without sturdy ladders for folks who are willing to work hard to get into the middle class. our fight goes on because america has always done best when everybody is getting a fair shot. everybody is doing their fair share and everybody plays by the same rules, that's what we believe, that's what you believe, that's why you elected me in 2008 and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. [ applause ] >> president obama in ohio campaigning and mitt romney will be campaigning in the next hour about 64 miles away in aetna, ohio. madam secretary, finally what about this closing few days of this election. president obama had his poll numbers go down after the first

debate. do you -- do you have any explanation for what happened in that first debate where the president by all accounts by his own account did not really show up and seem prepared and let mitt romney back into this race where it is now virtually tied in just about all of the national polls? >> i think the president has now demonstrated where he is and it's very clear to the public the differences between both of the campaigns. but the president is very focuseded on job creation and he's very focused on making sure opportunity is given to everyone, there's fair balance here and we don't go back to the old policies that took us into the ditch. we're coming out of the ditch now. we see job creation, more optimism and more favorable consumer attitude. so we've got the right medicine. we've got to keep going. i'm hopeful after tuesday we'll be able to get everyone all hands on deck and consider all the things that are important for us, like the hurricane victims, and also meeting our obligations for a good, stable

budget that doesn't hurt vulnerable populations. >> thank you so much. secretary hilda solis, thanks for being with us. joining me now to take a closer look at the economy and october jobs numbers, and our fiscal future, david, the washington bureau chief for "the new york times" thanks for joining us. >> of course. >> what is your impression from these numbers and the sort of positive jobs report but one that still shows some work needs to be done in terms of overall economic growth? >> i think that's a really nice summary of it. this is a good report. when you look at both the revisions normal revisions that the labor department made to its earlier estimates which are based on incomplete information, with the new data they gave us for last month, with a couple of the other surveys that are in this report what you see is this was significantly stronger than i expected and the consensus forecast of it was. when you dig into the details you see other nice little positive details like the decline in par time work, where

the jobs that are out there are full-time jobs as opposed to part-time jobs. the second half is also important. the economy is a long, long way from being healthy. financial crises do enormous damage. and some of that is very difficult to prevent. but we also had a case in which while washington did i think objectively a very good job of responding to the crisis, in 2009, in 2010 and '11 they -- their glasses were a little rose colored and i think we shouldn't be too optimistic based on how many times we've been disappointed over the economy in the last couple years. >> what do you think about the research done by vince rhinehart and others suggesting when you have a recession, a deep recession, caused by a financial crisis, that the comeback is much more shallow and that the bounce back is not as immediate? >> that's right. so it's by carmen rhinehart and ken roguehoff. >> i got the names wrong.

>> it's easy to conflate them. but it's really important. i mean what it shows is that a recession after a financial crisis tends to last years. typically the unemployment rate over all financial crises has risen more than five years. we are well ahead of that pace thanks to aggressive actions by the fed, aggressive actions by the bush administration in their final months and really aggressive actions by the obama administration in their first year. we're ahead of what you would think a typical financial crisis would bring. we've handled it better than europe has, and yet, i still think policymakers missed some of the rhinehart rowgof lessons and a little too optimistic about how much help the economy needed in 2010 and '11 and even into this year. >> and david, one of the things that i was talking about earlier with charlie cook, our own analysis and his, that the next congress is going to be much more hyper partisan, just based on who is not running and who is running and who won primaries in

largely, you know, republican districts and blue dogs retiring or getting defeated and that this hyper partisan congress of mostly newcomers will be there three years or less, are less likely to go along with the traditional arguments of the business leaders, jamie dimon and others, saying you have to do something about the fiscal cliff. this is more like tarp one when we look at the debt ceiling and some of the other things. depending on who is elected president. >> i think that's possible. and i do think there is some short-term risk about what the fiscal cliff could do to the economy. on the other hand, we all spent so much time worrying about the deficit, so much time worrying about the long-term fiscal situation of the country and the fact is the fiscal cliff solves our deficit problem. it does come with something of silver lining. that if congress does nothing, our whole deficit problem isn't solved because we have to deal with medicare and rise of health

costs over the next 20 or 30 years but medium term deficit problem is solved by the fiscal cliff with the increase in taxes and automatic decline in spendispen spending it disappears. for once, if congress does nothing, it will make major progress on the deficit. >> thanks so much. david, thanks for standing by and being with us. >> thank you. >> up next, marathon madness. the race goes on despite mounting controversy. and this weekend, we're turning rockefeller plaza into democracy plaza, broadcasting there this sunday. a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" at a special time, 3:00 eastern only right here on msnbc. what if there was a new way to deal with money that focused less on fees and more... on what matters? maybe your bank account is taking too much time

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the new york city marathon is still scheduled to be run on sunday despite backlash from new yorkers. many of whom are still in the dark. mike bloomberg was asked about that this hour. >> you go back to 9/11, i think rudy made the right decision in those days to run the marathon. it pulled people together. we have to find some ways to express ourselves and show our solidarity with each other. >> msnbc's craig melvin in new york city's central park. what are people saying there about the marathon? i'm a big supporter of t the marathon but seems to me with so many people not having power and generators being used and police being used, a lot of unfa structure involved. what is the gin general reaction? >> to give you some idea as to how intense this reaction has been. while you were in the sound 30 seconds ago, a guy drives by, rolls down his window and gives me an earful about the marathon

about what you talked about, the generators and the food that's being used here and not being used at breezy point what he just mentioned. but the folks on staten island, most certainly would agree with that. and here's the thing, mayor bloomberg has said, you know, part of the reason is just that, the economic boom that it means for the city. $350 million every year and in addition to that, the symbolism of it all, once again showing that new york city that's able to bounce back in the face of adversity. a lot of folks, dare i say 90% of the folks that we have talked to, here on the street corner yesterday in staten island, have been asking the same question, how can you do this? not just logistically. the infrastructure is probably going to be fine. 14 of the 23 subway stations are intact. the ferry is going to be running. the commuter trains running. the 47,000 runners will be able to get to the starting line. so it's not the logistics. it's the optics. just the appearance of it all.

how does this look to the tens of thousands of folks who are suffering through the millions of folks who don't have power and then you have all of these folks getting ready to run this big race. >> craig melvin, you're still getting earfuls i suspect, thank you very much. thanks for being there today. and will the marathon controversy have any impact on mike bloomberg and also on his endorsement of president obama, that's next. plus, the networks of nbc, universal are hosting a benefit, a concert for victims of hurricane sandy. hosted by the "today" show's matt lauer with performances including bruce springsteen and bon jovi and billy joel and many others. money will all be donated to the red cross and starts at 8:00 eastern on the networks of nbc including msnbc. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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with new york city mayor michael bloomberg under fire for green lighting the marathon, is his endorsement going to help or hurt the president? will it make any difference at all? joining me is former pennsylvania governor and msnbc political analyst ed rendell and romney campaign economic adviser vin weber. ed rendell, you've been a leader in times of crisis as a governor. what about the way mike bloomberg and the president and the other leaders, chris christie have handled this emergency? >> generally it's been terrific across the board. the mayor, the governor, the president, don't forget governor malloy in connecticut, governor markle in dell, our own governor governor corbett, government has responded very well and learned an important example for americans government does matter, we want an effective government, not big or small, it's effective government. we want it. i think we've seen it in action the past day at the state, local

and federal levels. >> is this now all a turnout election, vin webber, when you and ed rendell as pros look at this, you're a former member of congress, will anything change it? the jobs report is pretty much a wash. will the failure of fema to go to staten island and help the people in hoboken as quickly as they responded on the jersey shore or effectively as they responded is that going to have any impact? >> i think the storm had the effect of stalling momentum for governor romney but foernl a couple days. the images now are -- the initial unity and compassion and effectiveness as governor rendell put it, people can't get or food, i don't think it has a lasting effect in the last days of the election. it's about turnout and an unusual election. usually you go into an election with the two parties pretty much agreed, even if they don't admit it publicly, we're not this time.

two different theories on who will turn out and one says governor romney will win for a substantial victory karl rove has predicted that and the other says no, we're going to have a model that turns out democrats as they did last time and that gives a firewall on all the key states to the president. we're going to find out who's right and wrong on election day. it is a turnout question at this point. >> vin, do you have an opinion? >> you know, i want romney to win, i'm for romney, so i guess i believe my own campaign's theory of this. it's born out what i'm hearing back in minnesota which i know pretty well but what i'm hearing in governor representndell's st pennsylvania didn't think it was going to be in play, it's going to be in play. democrats are putting money in there. governor romney is going to be in the philadelphia suburbs on sunday. >> what about that fact, ed rendell, the fact of governor romney going in there and that bob casey, your senator, is in a very much tougher than anticipated race, and that his opponent comes from coal country and coal has been a real cutting edge issue for mitt romney?

>> basically i agree with what vin said about this election and it's going to be a turnout battle but i think we have a little peek into the enthusiasm of both sides in the early voting. i mean, the democrats are just slaughtering republicans in early voting in most states and that's because i think the enthusiasm level for our voters is much greater than anybody anticipated. i think that's concrete evidence that is so. in terms of pennsylvania, look, this is a hail mary. i think the republicans and i don't think vin would admit it and i wouldn't if i was in his spot, but i don't think they believe they're going to win ohio so the electoral math means they have to win michigan or pennsylvania or minnesota to substitute. so they've gone in and played in those states. it's too late. it's too little too late. had the romney campaign, the day after his terrific debate performance, and debate number one, had they gone in and spent $7 million a week for four weeks in pennsylvania, if romney and ryan had come in a lot in

pennsylvania, this could have been very competitive. you may remember when i was on your show in september and the polls showing 11, 12% for obama i said we're going to win by three or four points. today as i sit here we're going to win by three or four points. >> call the casey win. >> casey will win by five seni x points. >> we'll talk to you next week or see you in new york. >> the real answer is we don't know for sure. >> i agree with that. >> including any commentator. if anybody wants to tell you they know how this is turning out. >> they're lying. >> thank you so much. ed rendell who never lies, vin weber -- >> we make a good impression of it. >> and up next, new hope for new yorkers still left in the dark and those needing help in the storm aftermath. the fema hot line is 1-800-621-fee ha. y -- fema. go to nbc news.com and click on

how you can help. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪

[ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets...

♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. con-edson has announced plans to restore power to most of manhattan. joining me now is katie kerr in manhattan's lower eastside. thanks very much. you're on the lower eastside. what are they told about when power's coming back?

>> reporter: some are told good news. 7,000 customers, about two gids are restoring later tonight. they're two very important grids. they're small grids. one is on the lower east side and the other one is in chinatown. the lights are still off here like in much of lower manhattan. there's 600,000 people in new york city without power. 220 of them in lower manhattan alone. 220 customers, could be a lot more people. here in the lower east side it's important to get the power back. look behind me right here or in front of me. the cameraman will turn around. this is one of the many housing projects in the background. you can see about 20 stories high. not only do they not have power there, they don't have water there because they're 20 stories up and don't have the electricity to pump that water. that's why you see so much need here. here we have a food line, one of many food lines across the city right now. they're distributing everything

they need. i don't know if you saw this yesterday, but that amazing image of people rooting through the dumpster, that's exactly what they want to stop. they were rooting through the dumpster in one of the richest cities in the world here in manhattan on the lower east side dune the street from here and they didn't have food. there was a extra market getting rid of stuff because it was going bad. you saw people in manhattan going through dumpsters to get food. ho >> when i saw that yesterday, katie, it was extraordinary. thank you so much, and we'll be right back. ah. fire bad! just have to fire roast these tomatoes. do you churn your own butter too? what? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who are you?

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what will we see in the next 24, 48 hours? >> campaigning, campaigning, andr andrea.

look at ohio. if mitt romney does not win ohio, he's not going to win the presidency. whether or not pennsylvania and any other states, michigan, is real or not real, thanks so much. we'll work all weekend. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." join us sunday at 3:00 eastern from new york request guest senator bash practice brbara boe an all star cast and my colleague tamron has a look at what's next on "news nation." >>s in next hour we cover the two big stories. the dire situation after hurricane sandy. now we're being told some shelters are closing leaving people that lost their homes with nowhere to go. plus, the gas lines are getting worse as fuel tankers are said to be on the way. plus, the final four. president obama and governor romney both in ohio holding campaign events.

we'll check in with our political panel and get a live report on the ground from the campaign following both the president and governor romney. the final four. it all certainly counts now. a? colin powell: yes. when he took over we were in one of the... worst recessions we had seen in recent times... close to a depression. and i saw, over the next several years, stabilization... come back in the financial community. housing is starting to pick up. the president saved the auto industry. and the actions he's taken with respect to... protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. and so, i think we ought to keep on the track that we are on. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. then you may be looking for help in choosing the right plan for your needs. so don't wait. call now. whatever your health coverage needs, unitedhealthcare can help you find the right plan. open enrollment to choose your medicare coverage begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so now is the best time to review your options

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